I was honoured recently to join a beautiful community of like-minded and open-hearted people committed to the creation of more compassionate approaches to horsemanship and humanship and to foster a more thoughtful, mindful, kinder connection to our Earth mother and all life she supports.  Co-creating, co-responding, co-operating were the resonant themes; cohesiveness not coerciveness; conscious not unconscious; service to others, not just self-service.  As we approach the super full Moon in Virgo, sign of service to others, of healing of the mind, body and soul, the gifts and learning offered at the International Spirit Horse Festival in New Zealand, https://spirithorsefestival.org/ resonate deeply.

As a solo (human) practitioner, I do not often have much time for sitting in circle, creating sacred space and holding ceremony with others in the physical sense. I sit in many remote circles and ceremonies; I create and hold sacred space for clients in my equine guided coaching practice; I create sacred space for myself several times a day – and for, and with, the horses who partner with me; the trees, the birds, the land, the rocks, the sky, the stars, the sun, the moon.  But to sit in circle and ceremony with fellow practitioners, great and wise healers, elders and descendants of traditional guardians, to co-create a field of heart-centred energy, to open ourselves to receive guidance and healing, to hold hands and unite in sending compassion, love, healing and gratitude to all our relations: that is very special.   It ought not to be: it wasn’t in our ancestors’ time; it isn’t still in some remote, traditional lineages around the world – but it is in the western world, the so-called first world, where, despite all our advanced technology and gadgets, our ability to connect across the globe, we seem to be increasingly disconnected from ourselves; our essence, from our hardwired need for connection and belonging (see Brene Brown’s excellent work on this).  We stay busy, harried and cajoled by the relentless chatter in our heads; the lists of need tos, must dos, ought tos and should dos.  Virgo is also associated with detail and structure, so shadow Virgo can lead to perfectionism, an attribute that has been wrongly glorified and held aloft as something to strive towards, something to revere whereas in reality, perfectionism is a straitjacket, a tyrant who holds many hostage by evoking shame; the should bes, the ought to bes, the must haves, the need to haves.  In her guideposts to wholeheartedness Brene Brown speaks of letting go of exhaustion as a status symbol, releasing the need for perfection, and cultivating time for play and rest.  These latter two are essential to creativity – so needed in our ever-changing world – and to creating a calm space for our inner compass and connecting to that to direct our lives, rather than being buffeted by the winds – which will still happen to us all – unless you are a Zen Master, all the tools we learn are practices that are cultivated and made more accessible to us by just that; practice. 

To be able to connect to that quiet space within; that is a pathway worth forging and travelling often so that the way can be found even in the dark and through the storms.  Sitting in circle, in ceremony, in community – these practices help clear that pathway.    The myriad of tools and practices that were offered and so generously shared at The Spirit Horse Festival brought me back home, to my inner shaman, to my essence, my heart. The practices we engaged in helped me remember my why; so often we get caught up in the how or the what – when the most important are the why and the who. Why do I do what I do? Who am I – who do I serve? That connection is so critical to our healing; to being fully present and to living aligned to our values, our purpose and being on purpose – and I do mean “being” not doing”. 

Another great gift of the festival was to have time to be, not do.  We all need to make space to be so that we can connect – to ourselves, to others. How can we truly be of service if we are not centred, connected and grounded in the here and now ourselves? How can we be truly authentic in relationship, how can we deeply listen and truly hear if we are not mindfully connected to our breath, our inner world and our outer world, using all our senses all at once, as one?  Whether we are in relationship with our family, our friends, our co-workers, our horses, our cats, our dogs, the land we live on, our plants, our trees…..we cannot be truly in relationship if we are not in relationship with our core self.  Working on our self-development and growth, working on our self-compassion is essential to developing empathy and compassion for others – and we need space in which to do this, yet how often do we put everything else on the to do list higher up – and everyone else’s needs first?  This is not a sustainable way to be of service. “Put your own oxygen mask on first”.   I work with many women who struggle with these competing demands and with a conditioned self, taught by society to subjugate her own needs, to be rational and logical to succeed, to suppress emotion and to be very, very busy.  Developing self-compassion can be a massive and confronting challenge.  Investing in time to connect to self, to create sacred space or to sit in circle or ceremony can run counter to everything many women have been conditioned to believe or expect in their roles as mother, wife, daughter, sister, executive, leader, colleague, woman.  Yet such gifts lie therein!

Creating ceremony can be simple. Typically we think of ceremony as something done in community for a specific reason: an opening, a closing, a farewell, a tribute, a blessing, a union, a healing.  We can however create sacred space and rituals for ourselves – and thus bring ceremony into our lives. There are many very simple ways in which to do this, to create touchstones and lodestones, to incorporate direction finders into brief, daily moments and practices, something I explored with participants at my workshop, “Connecting to Sacred Space”, held after the festival.

Author Richard Wagamese, sadly no longer on the Earth plane,  wrote in his book, “Embers, one Ojibway’s meditations”:-  “When I allow myself to feel my body, when I can inhabit it and allow myself to close off the world beyond my flesh, I become who I am – energy and spirit. I am not my mind. I am not my brain. I am stardust, comets, nebulae and galaxies, I am trees and wind and stone. I am space. I am emptiness and wholeness at the same time. That is when my body sings to me, a glorious and ancient song redolent with mystery seeking to remain mystery. Connecting to it, living with it, becoming it even for a moment, I am healed and made more. Ceremony – whatever brings you closer to your essential self.”

I love this. So simple yet so profound – as are the best practices I find. So often we overthink and overcomplicate, confusing complex with interesting or being driven by the need to show we can do more, be more, worrying that what we offer is too simple, will seem not enough.  I like to keep things simple – so do my equine partners; in fact they counsel it and demand it!  Another reason why engaging them in this work towards connection can be so insightful and help us develop ways to embody practices that help form those new pathways.

I am so grateful for the practices, tools, insights and wisdom offered by the myriad of diverse presenters and participants at the festival which included, bodywork for horses and humans, identifying ideal clients, painting horses, animal communication, plant music and meditation, creative activities in the paddock for equine facilitated learning, post traumatic growth, leadership, horse-humanfriendship, creating sacred space, creating sustainable businesses, mindfulness, developing deeper connection with horses, energy healing and so much more!  It was indeed a privilege to be in such community and to enjoy interesting talks on the Kaimanawa horses of New Zealand, important new programs being developed to work with young offenders and wild horses, helping both reconnect and to learn of the many people working with horses – or with Nature – to help foster connection and community.

It was moving and fitting to sit in ceremony to celebrate the life of our dear friend and colleague Laura Williams, who was so connected to this festival and to creating our wider connected community of Humans and Horses. Her spirit infused the festival and her presence was, at times, palpable. My gratitude goes to all who held the space from both near and far.  Our collective ancestors would be happy to see this honouring; ceremony and honouring those recently transitioned helps speed their journey on the other side to wellness. Every story told and shared brings us closer and shines light on another jewel in Indra’s net.

Speaking of storytelling – such a vibrant night of drumming, dancing and storytelling was created by Jimi Dale (https://www.drumtalk.co.nz/) – grateful too for Jimi’s sharing of an mbira which connected me to home!

I was also deeply heartened by meeting so many very special, conscious and questioning young people – Indigo and Crystal children for sure – shaped in part by their close connection to the marvellous herd at Dune Lakes Lodge and the gentle guidance of Rosemary Wyndham-Jones who has created such a sanctuary with her four generations of empowered horses in a beautiful, space, just north of Auckland.  I see hope for the future in these young shining lights and in the amazing work people offer, including a wonderful documentary in production on the importance of our connection to Nature – and the need to protect the bounty and sanctuary our Earth offers.

(https://equinepathfinders.org.nz/)

My mantra at Mindful Horse, Mindful Leader is “Calmness, Connection, Compassion…one breath at a time”.  It was indeed glorious to be able to practice that in community and in ceremony, supported and held at all times by the presence of the horses.  Perhaps gift yourself some time to find ways to reconnect and join the horses and me in simply ceremony – and put the International Spirit Horse Festival on your wish list for 2020; a birthday or Christmas gift – you won’t regret it.

Sawubona!